Echoes of Unrequited Love

I spoke softly, but you could literally see the color drain from Cecilia’s face.

Just a second ago, she was all high and mighty, but now her face was flipping between red and white, like she’d hit the pause button on even thinking of a comeback.

Looks like she knew the score.

I figured that I should quit while I was ahead, but then the next second, the girl piped up, “You really know your stuff, huh? Now you’ve learned how to play hardball. But Xaviera, do you think Hogan would fall for this?”

I looked her straight in the eye, those smug apricot peepers of hers, and fired back, “Mr. Zade’s not gonna fall for my tricks, sure, but when it’s about you, Director Irwin, he might just have to think twice. What do you say?”

Cecilia choked on her words, biting her lip and looking all kinds of frustrated, and spat out, “Business is business, and personal is personal. Hogan’s always kept them separate, and he won’t mix up the two!”

Listening to Cecilia’s lame excuses, I almost burst out laughing.

Thinking back on our time working together, Hogan never kept business and personal apart.

This was just Cecilia’s way of trying to keep us in check.

Before, I might have turned a blind eye, but times change; this time, I can’t help fuel her

arrogance anymore.

So I said, “Since it’s all about keeping things separate, next time when you decide to skip out, make sure to slip President Lott a sick note, will you?”

At that, Cecilia’s eyes nearly popped out of her head, and she stared at me in total disbelief.

I smirked and said, “You get that, right, Director Irwin?”

“Of course!” Cecilia took a deep breath, glanced at her watch and said, “But I might not make it today, as Hogan’s waiting for me downstairs. It’s okay if I bring it tomorrow, right, Xaviera?” Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

“Sure thing,” I said, poker–faced. “Can’t have Mr. Zade waiting too long, can we?”

Cecilia shot me a look and then, clutching her white Chanel tote, stormed out of the studio without looking back.

Out of nowhere, Wallis popped up; she slapped a hand on my shoulder and went, “Way to be a badass, Ms. March! Nice job!”

I bet she was hiding somewhere and watching the drama unfold. Just as I was about to reply, she went, “Zora, make sure you’ve got all of Cecilia’s tardiness and early leaves logged. When it’s payday, let’s have it all neat and tidy on her paycheck!”

11:40

Zora blinked, and it took a couple of seconds before she nodded like a good soldier.

Back in the office, Wallis handed me a hot Americano like a true pal and asked, “What’s your game plan now?”

I paused for a sec, meeting Wallis‘ gaze, and she was like, “Come on, we’ve been sisters in arms for ages. You think I can’t see what you’re thinking?”

I glanced at the calendar and said, “With the Christmas just around the corner, if we want a decent holiday, we can’t keep waiting.”

“And?”

“Testing the waters,” I said, while locking eyes with Wallis. “Right now, we’re at a standoff with Rainbow Capital. It looks calm on the surface, but we’re still on the losing end. Hogan can drag this out as long as he wants, and we’ll be the ones to suffer. So, we need to throw a stone into this still lake.”

“Cecilia is that stone!” Wallis caught on, her face lighting up, then a shadow of worry crossed her features. “But knowing Hogan’s temper, if he finds out that we’re using Cecilia as a pawn, won’t he go through the roof?”

I slowly tore off another page from the calendar and said, “Sometimes, what you care about

becomes your weakness. If Hogan really cares that much about Cecilia, he won’t let the project fall apart.”